SellAustinTexas

Staged kitchen in Travis Country home

This recent sale goes to prove two essential elements in real estate.  If a home stands out among the crowd through pricing and presentation, it will sell.  Not only will it sell, it will sell FAST.  This home in Travis Country sold because we priced it right – at market value – and the sellers did everything right as far as staging and preparing the home to get on the market.  Things like paint touch ups, fresh mulch in the flower beds and “de-cluttering” the home went a long way to make this home stand out from the other homes in the area.

Manicured Yard

Pricing was the second essential element to make this one stand out from the crowd.  We priced this fairly for the market – not too high and not too low – and got very close to the asking price.  Overpriced listings don’t sell.  A home can be flawless and move-in ready but if it’s priced too high, it will sit on the market.

I’m not using this post to brag about our abilities (but I do think we do more than 90% of the realtors out there) but instead using it as an example of what happens when the fundamentals of pricing and presentation are properly executed.

Reasons to Buy a Home Now

The Buyers Market

1.  High Inventory: There is currently a balance of supply and demand that leans in the buyer’s favor. High inventory leaves a buyer with many available choices, and in all price ranges.

2.  Negotiating Power: The high inventory also allows for decreased prices and more negotiating power for the buyer. Not only can a homebuyer find their dream home, but they can do so for a great rate.

Home Prices

3.  Home Prices: Prices have come down a great deal from years past, and will only continue to rise over time.

4.  Interest Rates: With interest rates also at the lowest point in years, a single housing payment is going farther than it did in the past. Interest rates will not remain this low, and are expected to rise again soon.

Tax Savings

5.  Tax Deductions: Buying a home allows for many tax deductions, such as mortgage interest, mortgage insurance and real estate taxes. This means that after taxes, your mortgage payment will be lower than a rent payment would have been.

6.  Tax Credit: The new tax credit for homebuyers has been extended through spring, with an $8000 credit for new buyers and a $6500 credit for repeat buyers.

Personal Savings

7.  Appreciation: Home prices always move upward in the long run, appreciating the value in a home.

8.  Equity: If you have an amortizing loan, each mortgage payment is building equity in your home. It is such a gradual change many people don’t notice it, but it is allowing you savings.

9.  Rising Rents: Rents are expected to continue to rise.

Incentives and Extras

10.  Material and Non Material Extras: With the buyer’s extra sway in negotiations, you are able to ask for things that may not have been previously included, such as material items (like appliances) or non material items (such as a home warranty) as part of the purchase of the home.

11.  Home Improvements: Many sellers are working hard to make their homes move in ready, with extra home improvements and updates.

12.  Maintenance Costs: With updates and repairs before the home’s purchase, a buyer can save money in maintenance along with having a newer looking home.

Sandy Ranch

CNN Money’s article “What Housing Bust?” covers what areas of the nation have done well in the housing market, and why. According to writer Les Christie, areas with plenty of available developable land have smaller swings between home price highs and lows. This is because, when the demand for housing spikes, home builders are able to build more homes and keep the housing prices in check. Speed is also of the essence here, home builders need to be able to build quickly, thus, the need for available land.

“Elasticity of supply,” this is called, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. And Christie says, it is the definition of Texas real estate, and similar throughout all the metro areas.

“Texas is the poster child for these ‘steady Eddie’ states. House prices during the past three years rose in all 26 metro areas with gains ranging from 2.8% for Dallas, the second largest metro area, to 9.7% in Houston, the largest, to a whopping 32.5% in Odessa.”

This is part of what is causing the metro areas in Texas, including Austin, to grow so rapidly. Landowners in the Austin area should continue to see their investments in high demand for buyers and developers.

Austin area home sales pending to close in the month of September are up 10% from a slow August, the Austin Statesman reports. Should the almost 2,000 transactions go through, September’s home sales for the city will be 18% higher than September 2008.

This is a positive return from August, which saw home sales down 10% from August 2008, and down 11% from Austin’s strong July. While home sales were down, median home prices took less of a fall, at 4%.

BBVA Compass bank economists are predicting a return to growth for the State of Texas in 2010 - partly because of the stabilizing housing market in this region, according to their chief economist Nathaniel Karp. They predict a 4.5% increase in home sales for 2010 (along with a 1.2% increase in jobs and a 1.7% increase in gross domestic product).

There has been a lot of discussion about the role of the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit and its effect on sales. The IRS reports that 1.4 million homebuyers have taken advantage of the credit, and Austin has seen the effect, particularly in homes under $200,000. There has been talk of extending the credit, and some congressional leaders are pushing a six month extension or more, a move the White House is considering. Currently, however, there is no announcement, and the credit is set to end November 30. With how long it takes to process a mortgage application and other pre-closing requirements, buyers must have a house under contract a month ahead of the deadline, ideally even earlier, according to the Washington Post.